RHK's start spring Asia trip, sadly sans Gpanda's
May 31st, 2010, 01:36 PM
#201
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BTW, I've spoken several times to Bob and Karen since they've been in Bali. They sound very relaxed and seem to be enoying themselves. He calls me on my cell phone. On the first try, I can never hear, I hang up. They call back and everything is fine. It may be one of the numerous Hindu deities interceding. If Bob were a nice guy, these calls would be thoughtful. He's not, so there must be an ulterior motive.
Jun 2nd, 2010, 05:24 AM
#203
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To wander far afield, my son is visiting. He is going to Isreal next week, but his pasport expires in a month. A big No-No. This morning, he and Beth have set out to go to a passport service to try for a 4 day turn around for an updated passport. I came to work.
Jun 2nd, 2010, 08:17 AM
#205
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Eeee....he's leaving next week. When did he discover the passport is going to expire next month? My own passport will expire in the second half of next year. I'm definitely going to have it renewed before I think of going anywhere after March of next year.
You did well to go to work. A pal of mine here send her passport + paperwork and current photo to some address in Philly for expedited service. I sincerely wish your son well.
BC
You did well to go to work. A pal of mine here send her passport + paperwork and current photo to some address in Philly for expedited service. I sincerely wish your son well.
BC
Jun 2nd, 2010, 11:23 AM
#206
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They report that things went smoothly. He expects the updated passport on Tuesday.
Marija-I have a strong suspicion that Beth remained silent on the toiletries issue. Had she not, there's no way the paaport would e renewed. In carceration would likely result with Beth as the state's primary witness.
Marija-I have a strong suspicion that Beth remained silent on the toiletries issue. Had she not, there's no way the paaport would e renewed. In carceration would likely result with Beth as the state's primary witness.
Jun 3rd, 2010, 05:04 AM
#209
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the "boy", a Phd, need i say more, also a "professor" who teaches our kids... has to go on business to isreal and has one month left on his passport---AND HIS FATHER CALLS ME EINSTEIN IN JEST????????????
damn good thing the boy was not chewing gum too... the apple does not fall far from the tree, does it...?
new installment coming shortly.. must proof read
damn good thing the boy was not chewing gum too... the apple does not fall far from the tree, does it...?
new installment coming shortly.. must proof read
Jun 3rd, 2010, 05:34 AM
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Monday
We both had lots of trouble sleeping for some reason…. I was up and down all night… Finally headed over for breakfast… we have the exact same thing each day—K: 2 poached eggs, fresh pineapple juice, a fruit plate, coffee and toast….i have the same juice, scrambled eggs DRY, beef bacon, toast, tea and jam….
This morning there was a sole woman sitting next to us so I engaged her in conversation… she is 32 traveling alone to bali for the first time… she lives in Switzerland but is French. We had a lovely chat, in French…. Now that will really get andy for sure.. Btw each day the owner and his wife greet all of us by name which is quite nice… we had several good conversations with him during our stay…. He built the place starting in 1979…
After breakfast I had a quick shower and we jumped in the jeep for a wander about. We decided to go up in the hills…. Great plan… we took the main road back east for a few miles and then headed south on a side road. We, after perhaps 35 minutes, came back to the main road directly across the street from our hotel road…. I suggested that we just take the main road further to the north west which we did…
The road runs along the shoreline in and out. After a short distance we came into an area where lots of grapes were being grown on overhead arbors…. The grapes we saw were huge almost black round grapes. There is some local wine, but we suspect these are for eating… The road was two lanes and generally pretty decent, except for the occasional rough patch or hole. Traffic was easy to deal with generally… I have to tell the prospective bali drivers out there--- don’t, it is not easy. Traffic movements are not conventional at all. Most cars hug the center line, beep horns to pass…at any one time you could be driving forward, someone could be passing you on the right (beep), a motorbike could be passing you on the left (beep) and a car could be entering the road on the right, plus a car could be turning in front of you pre maturely into your lane, PLUS a motorbike could enter the road from the left going in the wrong direction… you have to pay 125% attention all the time…. AND THAT IS NOT EASY FOR NEEDHAMITES, as certain detractors would point out.
We kept going for about 2 hours. We were seeing the “real” bali, not the beautiful mystical one we dream about: dirty markets, trash, men lying about, kids everywhere, chickens, more ugly unkempt dogs than you can imagine, lovely rice terraces interspersed, more piles of trash, open roadside drainage, poverty, tons of kids in school uniforms, both with and without headscarves---eventually the area seemed to be turning more Muslim as we went forward—we could tell this by the lack of temples and allied architectural forms and the huge increase of mosques.
Eventually we reached the only 5* hotel on the north shore—The Martahari Resort and Spa, a Relais and C hotel. We decided to have lunch there. What a lovely oasis… Only 30 rooms located in individual buildings housing 2 units each. The open aire lobby reeks lux—think a ‘muffin’ type place… We walked throughout the huge lush garden setting. The pool is enormous for only 30 rooms… eventually we reached the sea where lunch was being served in the restaurant there. Hardly anyone was there—a few at the pool and two groups at the restaurant. We settled into a cosy table below a ceiling fan.
There was way more staff around than guests. K noted how crisp the linens were for being next to the sea….
Karen ordered a smoked malin sandwich and I selected nasi goering, which I suspected would be the best available, and it did not disappoint (really the Indonesian national dish—fried rice, chicken and shrimp with chilis. They served delicious hot rolls and crisp shrimp crisps with a hot dipping sauce before the lunch arrived. We shared a vanilla crème brule for dessert.
Just before dessert a well dressed man approached our table in casual attire. He wanted to introduce himself---sure enough andy, it was the general manager. A charming French guy from the north coast of france. We had a very pleasant conversation about the hotel and about R&C… I did not know that they do not accept hotels with over 35 rooms, did you? Robbie—Fred deserves this place. They also have Pavilions in sanur and elsewhere in asia.
The manager sent the new directories for R&C to our tables as a gift. He never guessed we are motel 6 devotees.
After lunch we strolled back through the grounds to await our car. Sort of like the Beverly hillbillies…
The drive back to our hotel was uneventful, but boring….did I mention we got to see the real bali…
A quick jump into the pool refreshed us. Then it began to rain and I mean pelt down…. Small flooding on the paths… the pool overflowed… By 7 it had stopped so we headed down to the seaside to our now favorite restaurant with umbrellas in had… the road was muddy and wet…. One motorbike splashed me---he must have known me to be a fodorite, or a friend of gpanda’s…
K had the fried seafood basket—sounds like usa… I had a pizza—so so… K’s was fabulous, not greasy and loaded with octopus, fish pieces, a fish filet, shrimp and a bowl of fish curry, plus fries--$5.50 if you can believe it. She also had the ½ carafe of white wine again. I had the cheesecake (ugh) again and K had the banana crepe with honey…
we talked for quite a while with the bar tender who was wandering around because the rain had kept people away---Bintang Bali is the restaurant name…
The water and mud had mostly disappeared so our walk back was easy… we stopped at the internet café and did internet for ½ hour each (the wi-fi I had bought from him was unreliable from the hotel… it worked great at 4AM however.
Read for while then slept well as the previous nite was restless.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
A day to move again… Our last breakfast in this dining room---I had porridge for a change, k had the same…
We showered and packed a few things and were out of the room before 10---they have a 10AM checkout for some strange reason??
We visited the hotel shop for the 2nd time—its located in a house next to the entrance and seems to have the best quality items in the village. K bought a few gifts and some silver for herself.
On the road heading north a bit to rte 3 S heading for Tanah Lot… TL is the site of one of the most famous temples in bali---it is in the sea on a small island 100+ feet off shore. Our destination is ¼ mile south of it- the newly named Pan Pacific Nirwana Resort, also home to a Greg Norman golf course, noted as the best course in asia--- I think I just saw tiger in the pool…. At low tide you can walk to the temple…
Orginally this had been a Westin Resort but about a month or two ago it switched to pan pacific… my res was a starwood res but it is being honored. In fact we have just received an invite to the manager’s cocktail party tomorrow nite, so my starwoods status must be a carry-over.
So at reaching rte 3, just another two lane road, we headed up and down and up and down through some nice scenery. Less of the real bali, but more of the beautiful bali. The road twisted and turned for about 2 hours. We stopped a couple of times for pics. Eventually, we began to see signs for tanah lot. We now were out of the countryside and into a more urban area. Along one stretch we finally saw the grand entrance to the hotel. Everything seemed so different. The grounds were expansive, well groomed and you rode through the golf course and up to a large hotel, seaside. This was definitely a western style place but nothing like nusa dua…! Our room was ready in about 5 minutes. It’s on the 5th floor overlooking the pool and if there were not palms in the way, the sea. We can hear the roar of the waves however. The surf is huge. There is no beach as the hotel sits on a bluff above the rocky coast. TL is visible off to the right..
Our room is large and comfortable. Like many western style hotels it lacks some asian touches, but with the heavy use of woods there is no mistake that you are in asia… The room reminds me a lot of the Marriott in bkk except here there are cool tile floors in the rooms.. The bathroom is very nice. Our balcony will be well used.
We were starved so we headed to get something to eat. The pool restaurant was suggested. We both had Australian beef bacon cheese burgers with fries and were they good!!! Even the pickle, and not for breakfast. We look forward to the breakfast buffet tomorrow---fingers crossed for dim sum…
Karen headed for the pool and I read for the rest of the afternoon.
We may try the thai restaurant for dinner.---closed
Wednesday
Did not get up until after 9…. Down for breakfast… A decent spread, but nothing of the quality that we experience in Bkk… There was limited sushi and dim sum, but they were sub par really. The staff is very accommodating and friendly. The breakfast is fine, just not exceptional…
We hit the pool for a couple of hours. The pools, of which there are several, are on many different levels. There are lagoons connecting different areas, water stairs from level to level, two water slides between levels, lots of bridges, great shade and sun areas, tons of lounges, and plenty of staff to offer assistance or take food orders, move lounges, etc… this is a fantastic place to finish off our bali holiday…
About noon we returned to the room, dressed and called for our car. K wanted to visit a near-by village she had read about where tiles (roof) and some pottery is made---village= Pejaten. One of the staff drew us a simple map which helped but basically we just had to drive around… we took a few wrong turns, turned around a time or two, took an ever narrowing street which ended at a beach, where the huge waves were crashing on the black sand beach..
BTW, after leaving the hotel, we dropped off a bag of laundry outside the hotel---$3.60 for quite a few items. 24 hour service.
Finally we found the shop. It takes up two floors of a large house. We bought a few things, but not much. One specialality is green dishes with raised bugs, and tiny animals in various shapes adorning them. It was a fun adventure and to see the local huge kilns, fired by coconut shells, was interesting…. Thousands of shells everywhere.
The towns we had driven through all looked quite orderly and prosperous. They were surrounded by beautiful rice paddies at various stages of maturity. I have not mentioned it but we have seen quite a few small areas growing corn on this trip. We had never noticed it before. Plus we have seen many women carrying the so called snake beans. They are a long 12-30” green bean type veggie.
We made our way back to the hotel and went for another swim. At 5:30 we attended the manager’s weekly cocktail party for invitees. It was held on a grass bluff overlooking the sea and tanah lot, plus the day’s sunset and a fairway and green just above the sea... The site was a dream really---perfect for a wedding, reception, or other gathering… We met some nice people, had a couple of drinks and a few hors’--- yup they are here too.
Later, we returned to the Italian restaurant for a simple supper---fish and chips for K and a vegetarian pasta dish for me, plus another sticky date pudding shared for dessert.
Tomorrow, we plan to head to seminyak for our first visit there.
Thursday
Another decent nite’s sleep. Down for breakfast---what no pineapple in pineapple land!!!
About 10 we called for the car and headed south towards seminyak…. Oh yea, only a short drive…. It winds and it turns and the motorbikes jump in front of you, etc. etc… Finally we made it. Pulled into the beach next to the sofitel for a few minutes…. Decent beach… then headed down the sort of main street of seminak…. Parked in one spot for a while and visited a few shops…. Drove along further south and got into a huge traffic jam…. Reversed course---by this time I had had enough…. K thought we were in the wrong area, but a shop keeper had told us this was “main st., Seminyak”… We pulled over at a convenient spot---they are few and far between, to look at the map… I suggested that we head to sanur, have a really late lunch/early dinner, shop there and then return.
Honestly I was disappointed with everything I saw except the beach---K says I should not say this… but…
We found our way quite easily… The driving was far easier and I estimate it took us an hour +. Just before we arrived a motor cycle cop pulled up beside me and signaled me to pull over. He was followed by another. They were very friendly and wanted to know why we were not wearing our seat belts---read give me money….He asked for my license and I gave him my one year outdated international license—he never noticed… We told him I was too fat and it would not fit and was broken and that K’s was also broken---rental car…. He bought my excuse, but opened K’s door and climbed over her to show that in fact her’s did work…. He talked to us for a while and the 2nd cop left…. He took out his ticket book and opened it, and then had more small talk---O’bamma is coming…read---give me that money now you jerk---can’t you see I am cutting you some slack?? Then he said something directly to me that required an answer and I said—‘I thought you might give me a warning’---he smiled meaning—MONEY NOW YOU A_ s H_ _ e!!! I then smiled and said thank you, Bye, and started the engine…. He said drive carefully…. I drove off…
It does not end there as we drove another mile or two and were stopped at a major intersection and the cop there came running out into traffic waving his hand…. Then he signaled seat belt…. We rolled down the window and told him ‘too fat’—will not fit. He looked and told me to loop it around my arm which I did and we drove on..
We drove along the main street of sanur, making a couple of stops, then looped around and drove back the other way looking for a shop K likes—Animale… She tried on nearly everything in the shop and bought one dress only---most were too snug. We also visited A-Krea, a combo clothing and household shop—we bought a runner there made from bamboo elements. We decided to have our meal near-by at The Village, where andy, beth, karen and I had had a couple of excellent meals 2 years ago. It did not disappoint!!
I had fresh pasta spinach and ricotta filled ravoli in a cream brandy sauce and a plate of roasted veggies… K had a thin steak scaloppinis with a wine sauce and fresh cauliflower and broccoli…. We had to have desserts: crème caramel and tiramisu with nutella.. A fabulous meal--~ $35. Perhaps our best meal thus far…did I say they neglected to charge us for the desserts?, so meal was only $26
We like sanur, almost as much as ubud---in fact maybe more because of the excellent beach and lack of hustle and busle…
Business is really off all over bali…. Hotels are almost empty and shops have far less stock than on previous visits…. They are hoping things will pick up over the next two months….
A very long drive back to TL, some of it after dark…. About 2 hours…. DO NOT DRIVE AFTER DARK HERE!!! In fact don’t drive at all—I will not again…
I called Putu this AM to report to him that I have done ok with the driving thus far… He laughed and pulled my leg….
We got back to the hotel before 7, having survived rush hour…
Will pay the wi-fi fee tonight so we can check our mail and update fodors, so we will have access for 24 hours-- $12….
We both had lots of trouble sleeping for some reason…. I was up and down all night… Finally headed over for breakfast… we have the exact same thing each day—K: 2 poached eggs, fresh pineapple juice, a fruit plate, coffee and toast….i have the same juice, scrambled eggs DRY, beef bacon, toast, tea and jam….
This morning there was a sole woman sitting next to us so I engaged her in conversation… she is 32 traveling alone to bali for the first time… she lives in Switzerland but is French. We had a lovely chat, in French…. Now that will really get andy for sure.. Btw each day the owner and his wife greet all of us by name which is quite nice… we had several good conversations with him during our stay…. He built the place starting in 1979…
After breakfast I had a quick shower and we jumped in the jeep for a wander about. We decided to go up in the hills…. Great plan… we took the main road back east for a few miles and then headed south on a side road. We, after perhaps 35 minutes, came back to the main road directly across the street from our hotel road…. I suggested that we just take the main road further to the north west which we did…
The road runs along the shoreline in and out. After a short distance we came into an area where lots of grapes were being grown on overhead arbors…. The grapes we saw were huge almost black round grapes. There is some local wine, but we suspect these are for eating… The road was two lanes and generally pretty decent, except for the occasional rough patch or hole. Traffic was easy to deal with generally… I have to tell the prospective bali drivers out there--- don’t, it is not easy. Traffic movements are not conventional at all. Most cars hug the center line, beep horns to pass…at any one time you could be driving forward, someone could be passing you on the right (beep), a motorbike could be passing you on the left (beep) and a car could be entering the road on the right, plus a car could be turning in front of you pre maturely into your lane, PLUS a motorbike could enter the road from the left going in the wrong direction… you have to pay 125% attention all the time…. AND THAT IS NOT EASY FOR NEEDHAMITES, as certain detractors would point out.
We kept going for about 2 hours. We were seeing the “real” bali, not the beautiful mystical one we dream about: dirty markets, trash, men lying about, kids everywhere, chickens, more ugly unkempt dogs than you can imagine, lovely rice terraces interspersed, more piles of trash, open roadside drainage, poverty, tons of kids in school uniforms, both with and without headscarves---eventually the area seemed to be turning more Muslim as we went forward—we could tell this by the lack of temples and allied architectural forms and the huge increase of mosques.
Eventually we reached the only 5* hotel on the north shore—The Martahari Resort and Spa, a Relais and C hotel. We decided to have lunch there. What a lovely oasis… Only 30 rooms located in individual buildings housing 2 units each. The open aire lobby reeks lux—think a ‘muffin’ type place… We walked throughout the huge lush garden setting. The pool is enormous for only 30 rooms… eventually we reached the sea where lunch was being served in the restaurant there. Hardly anyone was there—a few at the pool and two groups at the restaurant. We settled into a cosy table below a ceiling fan.
There was way more staff around than guests. K noted how crisp the linens were for being next to the sea….
Karen ordered a smoked malin sandwich and I selected nasi goering, which I suspected would be the best available, and it did not disappoint (really the Indonesian national dish—fried rice, chicken and shrimp with chilis. They served delicious hot rolls and crisp shrimp crisps with a hot dipping sauce before the lunch arrived. We shared a vanilla crème brule for dessert.
Just before dessert a well dressed man approached our table in casual attire. He wanted to introduce himself---sure enough andy, it was the general manager. A charming French guy from the north coast of france. We had a very pleasant conversation about the hotel and about R&C… I did not know that they do not accept hotels with over 35 rooms, did you? Robbie—Fred deserves this place. They also have Pavilions in sanur and elsewhere in asia.
The manager sent the new directories for R&C to our tables as a gift. He never guessed we are motel 6 devotees.
After lunch we strolled back through the grounds to await our car. Sort of like the Beverly hillbillies…
The drive back to our hotel was uneventful, but boring….did I mention we got to see the real bali…
A quick jump into the pool refreshed us. Then it began to rain and I mean pelt down…. Small flooding on the paths… the pool overflowed… By 7 it had stopped so we headed down to the seaside to our now favorite restaurant with umbrellas in had… the road was muddy and wet…. One motorbike splashed me---he must have known me to be a fodorite, or a friend of gpanda’s…
K had the fried seafood basket—sounds like usa… I had a pizza—so so… K’s was fabulous, not greasy and loaded with octopus, fish pieces, a fish filet, shrimp and a bowl of fish curry, plus fries--$5.50 if you can believe it. She also had the ½ carafe of white wine again. I had the cheesecake (ugh) again and K had the banana crepe with honey…
we talked for quite a while with the bar tender who was wandering around because the rain had kept people away---Bintang Bali is the restaurant name…
The water and mud had mostly disappeared so our walk back was easy… we stopped at the internet café and did internet for ½ hour each (the wi-fi I had bought from him was unreliable from the hotel… it worked great at 4AM however.
Read for while then slept well as the previous nite was restless.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
A day to move again… Our last breakfast in this dining room---I had porridge for a change, k had the same…
We showered and packed a few things and were out of the room before 10---they have a 10AM checkout for some strange reason??
We visited the hotel shop for the 2nd time—its located in a house next to the entrance and seems to have the best quality items in the village. K bought a few gifts and some silver for herself.
On the road heading north a bit to rte 3 S heading for Tanah Lot… TL is the site of one of the most famous temples in bali---it is in the sea on a small island 100+ feet off shore. Our destination is ¼ mile south of it- the newly named Pan Pacific Nirwana Resort, also home to a Greg Norman golf course, noted as the best course in asia--- I think I just saw tiger in the pool…. At low tide you can walk to the temple…
Orginally this had been a Westin Resort but about a month or two ago it switched to pan pacific… my res was a starwood res but it is being honored. In fact we have just received an invite to the manager’s cocktail party tomorrow nite, so my starwoods status must be a carry-over.
So at reaching rte 3, just another two lane road, we headed up and down and up and down through some nice scenery. Less of the real bali, but more of the beautiful bali. The road twisted and turned for about 2 hours. We stopped a couple of times for pics. Eventually, we began to see signs for tanah lot. We now were out of the countryside and into a more urban area. Along one stretch we finally saw the grand entrance to the hotel. Everything seemed so different. The grounds were expansive, well groomed and you rode through the golf course and up to a large hotel, seaside. This was definitely a western style place but nothing like nusa dua…! Our room was ready in about 5 minutes. It’s on the 5th floor overlooking the pool and if there were not palms in the way, the sea. We can hear the roar of the waves however. The surf is huge. There is no beach as the hotel sits on a bluff above the rocky coast. TL is visible off to the right..
Our room is large and comfortable. Like many western style hotels it lacks some asian touches, but with the heavy use of woods there is no mistake that you are in asia… The room reminds me a lot of the Marriott in bkk except here there are cool tile floors in the rooms.. The bathroom is very nice. Our balcony will be well used.
We were starved so we headed to get something to eat. The pool restaurant was suggested. We both had Australian beef bacon cheese burgers with fries and were they good!!! Even the pickle, and not for breakfast. We look forward to the breakfast buffet tomorrow---fingers crossed for dim sum…
Karen headed for the pool and I read for the rest of the afternoon.
We may try the thai restaurant for dinner.---closed
Wednesday
Did not get up until after 9…. Down for breakfast… A decent spread, but nothing of the quality that we experience in Bkk… There was limited sushi and dim sum, but they were sub par really. The staff is very accommodating and friendly. The breakfast is fine, just not exceptional…
We hit the pool for a couple of hours. The pools, of which there are several, are on many different levels. There are lagoons connecting different areas, water stairs from level to level, two water slides between levels, lots of bridges, great shade and sun areas, tons of lounges, and plenty of staff to offer assistance or take food orders, move lounges, etc… this is a fantastic place to finish off our bali holiday…
About noon we returned to the room, dressed and called for our car. K wanted to visit a near-by village she had read about where tiles (roof) and some pottery is made---village= Pejaten. One of the staff drew us a simple map which helped but basically we just had to drive around… we took a few wrong turns, turned around a time or two, took an ever narrowing street which ended at a beach, where the huge waves were crashing on the black sand beach..
BTW, after leaving the hotel, we dropped off a bag of laundry outside the hotel---$3.60 for quite a few items. 24 hour service.
Finally we found the shop. It takes up two floors of a large house. We bought a few things, but not much. One specialality is green dishes with raised bugs, and tiny animals in various shapes adorning them. It was a fun adventure and to see the local huge kilns, fired by coconut shells, was interesting…. Thousands of shells everywhere.
The towns we had driven through all looked quite orderly and prosperous. They were surrounded by beautiful rice paddies at various stages of maturity. I have not mentioned it but we have seen quite a few small areas growing corn on this trip. We had never noticed it before. Plus we have seen many women carrying the so called snake beans. They are a long 12-30” green bean type veggie.
We made our way back to the hotel and went for another swim. At 5:30 we attended the manager’s weekly cocktail party for invitees. It was held on a grass bluff overlooking the sea and tanah lot, plus the day’s sunset and a fairway and green just above the sea... The site was a dream really---perfect for a wedding, reception, or other gathering… We met some nice people, had a couple of drinks and a few hors’--- yup they are here too.
Later, we returned to the Italian restaurant for a simple supper---fish and chips for K and a vegetarian pasta dish for me, plus another sticky date pudding shared for dessert.
Tomorrow, we plan to head to seminyak for our first visit there.
Thursday
Another decent nite’s sleep. Down for breakfast---what no pineapple in pineapple land!!!
About 10 we called for the car and headed south towards seminyak…. Oh yea, only a short drive…. It winds and it turns and the motorbikes jump in front of you, etc. etc… Finally we made it. Pulled into the beach next to the sofitel for a few minutes…. Decent beach… then headed down the sort of main street of seminak…. Parked in one spot for a while and visited a few shops…. Drove along further south and got into a huge traffic jam…. Reversed course---by this time I had had enough…. K thought we were in the wrong area, but a shop keeper had told us this was “main st., Seminyak”… We pulled over at a convenient spot---they are few and far between, to look at the map… I suggested that we head to sanur, have a really late lunch/early dinner, shop there and then return.
Honestly I was disappointed with everything I saw except the beach---K says I should not say this… but…
We found our way quite easily… The driving was far easier and I estimate it took us an hour +. Just before we arrived a motor cycle cop pulled up beside me and signaled me to pull over. He was followed by another. They were very friendly and wanted to know why we were not wearing our seat belts---read give me money….He asked for my license and I gave him my one year outdated international license—he never noticed… We told him I was too fat and it would not fit and was broken and that K’s was also broken---rental car…. He bought my excuse, but opened K’s door and climbed over her to show that in fact her’s did work…. He talked to us for a while and the 2nd cop left…. He took out his ticket book and opened it, and then had more small talk---O’bamma is coming…read---give me that money now you jerk---can’t you see I am cutting you some slack?? Then he said something directly to me that required an answer and I said—‘I thought you might give me a warning’---he smiled meaning—MONEY NOW YOU A_ s H_ _ e!!! I then smiled and said thank you, Bye, and started the engine…. He said drive carefully…. I drove off…
It does not end there as we drove another mile or two and were stopped at a major intersection and the cop there came running out into traffic waving his hand…. Then he signaled seat belt…. We rolled down the window and told him ‘too fat’—will not fit. He looked and told me to loop it around my arm which I did and we drove on..
We drove along the main street of sanur, making a couple of stops, then looped around and drove back the other way looking for a shop K likes—Animale… She tried on nearly everything in the shop and bought one dress only---most were too snug. We also visited A-Krea, a combo clothing and household shop—we bought a runner there made from bamboo elements. We decided to have our meal near-by at The Village, where andy, beth, karen and I had had a couple of excellent meals 2 years ago. It did not disappoint!!
I had fresh pasta spinach and ricotta filled ravoli in a cream brandy sauce and a plate of roasted veggies… K had a thin steak scaloppinis with a wine sauce and fresh cauliflower and broccoli…. We had to have desserts: crème caramel and tiramisu with nutella.. A fabulous meal--~ $35. Perhaps our best meal thus far…did I say they neglected to charge us for the desserts?, so meal was only $26
We like sanur, almost as much as ubud---in fact maybe more because of the excellent beach and lack of hustle and busle…
Business is really off all over bali…. Hotels are almost empty and shops have far less stock than on previous visits…. They are hoping things will pick up over the next two months….
A very long drive back to TL, some of it after dark…. About 2 hours…. DO NOT DRIVE AFTER DARK HERE!!! In fact don’t drive at all—I will not again…
I called Putu this AM to report to him that I have done ok with the driving thus far… He laughed and pulled my leg….
We got back to the hotel before 7, having survived rush hour…
Will pay the wi-fi fee tonight so we can check our mail and update fodors, so we will have access for 24 hours-- $12….
Jun 3rd, 2010, 06:28 AM
#212
Bob, Loved reading your latest installment. I'm so jealous you had lunch at an R & C...they are my favorite places in the world...always so charming, luxurious, and atmospheric. I have to commend your courage for driving there...glad it was without incident (except for the cop...you gotta wonder when one of the first things you see leaving the airport is a huge billboard giving a number to call to report any wrongdoing by the police!)
I also loved hearing about the Pan Pacific resort.... I could see the golf course from Tanah Lot and had asked Putu about it. It did look a little out of place at first, but I imagine it was a wonderful place to end your journey.
I too thought Seminyak was one big disappointment (except for The Legian and the restaurants)
Glad your trip went well.
I also loved hearing about the Pan Pacific resort.... I could see the golf course from Tanah Lot and had asked Putu about it. It did look a little out of place at first, but I imagine it was a wonderful place to end your journey.
I too thought Seminyak was one big disappointment (except for The Legian and the restaurants)
Glad your trip went well.
Jun 3rd, 2010, 06:44 AM
#213
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Yikes, being pulled over by the cops TWICE!! I can see if Gpanda had been on this trip, things would've been radically different. I wonder what Balinese jails are like??? The moving mouth of Gpanda never would've stopped moving....I'm glad to read you were both able to get some decent sleep. When you travel and aren't sleeping well, it's so much more disturbing than if you get a bad night's sleep at home. The meals sound great. (I myself had some very authentic cheese tortelloni last night. K's hint on the marina sauce made all the difference.)
Take care, post in again! (And be careful driving.)
BC
Take care, post in again! (And be careful driving.)
BC
Jun 3rd, 2010, 10:06 AM
#219
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Does this mean that you've had an 'authentic' Bali experience? (lol) Enjoying your descriptions.
Check your R & C guide for our B&B in Italy... although it may no longer be listed... It was in Monteleone Italy, called Palazzo Consoli. It was fabulous!
Carol (btw, I now have my BOS GTG ticket)
Check your R & C guide for our B&B in Italy... although it may no longer be listed... It was in Monteleone Italy, called Palazzo Consoli. It was fabulous!
Carol (btw, I now have my BOS GTG ticket)
